I stood up, rolled my shoulders, cracked my neck once, and glanced at the five bodies lying around like trash someone kicked into the corner and pretend they didn't see.
Oops—right.
That someone was me.
I rubbed the back of my head, feeling a little stupid.
"Fine, fine… let's clean this mess."
I lifted my hand.
"Void Eater."
One by one they vanished.
Just—gone. Like someone brushed dirt off their sleeve.
They just… disappeared.
Blue screens opened in front of my face right after.
[Void Eater Activated]
[Devoured: 5 × Guide Trainee (F Rank)]
[Skill Gained: Muck Shield (F)]
[Cooldown: 10 sec.]
[ Description : Creates a mud wall that slows hits.]
[Total Exp: 12,000]
[Seed Growth: +10]
[Taint: +10]
I stared at the screen.
"…Muck shield," I said. "Yep. Legendary. Truly peak garbage."
More windows popped up in front of my eyes.
Meh. I didn't even bother looking.
Trash is trash. I could feel the stink from here.
Who the hell needs these F-rank trash-level skills from trash bloodlines?
Not me.
Would've been nice if the System had a trash can.
One button, boom, all garbage gone.
But no.
Of course not.
I get stuck with skills even cockroaches wouldn't use.
I flicked some dirt off my hand and clicked my tongue.
"Five assassins," I muttered. "And all they dropped was… mud. Amazing."
I started walking, kicking a pebble out of the way.
"Whoever picked this squad," I muttered, "must really hate me… or really want me to take a nap."
Either way…
pathetic.
Right as I said it—
the System window popped up on its own, like it finally heard my prayers.
[Skill Conversion Unlocked]
Trash Skill → Skill EXP
Higher trash = more EXP.
Convert?
[Yes] [No]
I stared at it for a full second.
"…wait. For real?"
[You complained enough.]
[Feature unlocked.]
I squinted.
"…so that's how this works now? I just complain and you give me features?"
Silence.
The System pretended it didn't hear me.
I shrugged.
"Fine. Whatever. Let's toss the garbage."
I hit YES without hesitation.
Finally, the four trash skills dissolved right there.
Good.
If I had to look at them any longer, I'd probably develop some kind of OCD just to get rid of garbage faster.
[Converted: 4 × F-Rank Skills → +40 Skill EXP]
A small grin slipped out.
"Ahh… finally. A feature that respects my time."
I stared at the list of remaining F-rank skills and felt a creepy weird feeling.
…Wait. I still have more trash lying around.
Fine.
Let's take out the garbage.
"System, dissolve thorn whatever—Thorn Bullet."
Window popped up.
Boom.
Gone.
Seriously, who wants to be that weirdo shooting tiny poison needles from their fingers? I'm not a mosquito.
Next.
"Rampaging Rush. Yeah, dissolve that too."
Another blink.
Gone.
That skill made me run like a drunk bull chasing a red bedsheet. I almost hit a tree last time. No thanks.
Next.
"RockSkin…"
I squinted at it.
Even the icon looked stupid.
Yeah—no. I'm not turning into a walking pebble. Dissolve it before I start shedding gravel.
System obeyed instantly.
One by one, the useless F-rank junk blinked out of my list.
Exactly how it should be.
No more trash skill.
No more skills I'd be ashamed to even say aloud to use it.
[Converted: 3 × F-Rank Skills → +30 Skill EXP]
I nodded, satisfied.
"There. Finally clean. My skill menu doesn't look like my grandfather's garage anymore."
Then I suddenly had a great idea.
Honestly, If someone heard that, they'd clap like I discovered fire.
What if… the System could level up skills using Skill EXP?
Genius, right?
So I pointed at the only skill worth anything.
"System, level up FoxFire Step."
I grinned to myself.
I really liked that skill. Who wouldn't?
You run like jet vroooom—okay no, that sounded stupid. Whatever. You get it.
"Alright, System. Upgrade FoxFire Step."
I waited.
And then—
Nothing happened.
A red line blinked across the top.
[ Insufficient Skill EXP ]
"…excuse me?"
I said it again, slower this time, like maybe the System was just shy.
Same line.
[ Insufficient Skill EXP ]
I squinted at the air.
"How much do you even want?"
Another window popped up like it had been waiting to bully me.
[ Required Skill EXP: 500 ]
I froze.
"Five hundred?"
I rubbed my face.
"I just deleted half a dumpster of F-rank garbage, and you're telling me that wasn't even pocket change?"
Silence.
Of course.
I sighed and flicked the window away.
Great. Perfect. Love this.
Guess I need to go find more idiots to erase.
The System didn't disagree.
Which meant… it was true.
I stared at the empty air for a moment.
…Wait.
What was I even doing?
Right.
Mission.
Azure Vein Root.
Sector 43.
Teamwork.
Blah blah.
I looked at the ground, then at the trees, then at the spot where five idiots used to be.
Yeah. I definitely forgot.
Damn… I'm enjoying this way more than I should.
Then it hit me.
Oh crap—
that beauty with anger issues. What was her name again? Lin… Lin…
I snapped my fingers.
Lin Xue.
Yeah. The one who'll freeze my legs off if I'm late.
I turned around fast.
Alright, time to run before she kills me harder than any monster.
I crouched, ready to Shift back toward the team.
Just a few jumps. Easy. Quick. Back before anyone notices.
That's what I thought was gonna happen.
Then my brain did what it always does at the worst possible time.
Wait… how many Skill Exp would I get if I killed a few more idiots like those five? Maybe ten? Twenty? Hmmm…
And that was exactly when I triggered Abyssal Shift.
My brain was thinking about farming Skill EXP.
My body jumped in a completely different direction.
Void grabbed me, tossed me like laundry, and dumped me out on the other side…
…right onto something soft.
I froze.
Looked down.
A glowing blue root sat under my shoe like I'd just delivered a divine stomp from heaven.
"...You're kidding me."
Azure Vein Root.
The exact herb we were supposed to find.
The rare medicinal plant.
The whole reason we came here.
And I landed on it because I was daydreaming about grinding EXP.
I rubbed my face.
Man… if Lin Xue sees this, she's gonna think I'm some herb-tracking god instead of an idiot who mis-clicked teleport.
Nah.
Who am I kidding.
She won't think anything.
She'll just stare, nod once, and say something like, "Hurry up," like I didn't just trip over rare loot by sheer stupidity.
I crouched and carefully picked it up.
"Whatever. A win is a win."
I tucked the herb into my bag.
…Now I really need to get back before Miss Freeze-Your-Organs hunts me down.